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Enabling AVB on Cisco Catalyst Switches

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This article describes how to enable AVB on supported Cisco® Cataylst® switches. This article does not detail Cisco firmware upgrade or initial switch setup procedure. Please see Cisco Catalyst documentation for more detail. Biamp recommends a Cisco certified technician performs switch configuration.

Supported Catalyst models

AVB is supported on select models of the following Catalyst series.

Catalyst 3650 Series Catalyst 3850 Series
Required license level:
ipbase or ipsevices		 Required license level:
ipbase or ipsevices

Minimum IOS release:
IOS XE Fuji-16.9.2

Cisco recommends:

IOS XE Gibraltar 16.12.4

Minimum IOS release:
IOS XE Fuji-16.9.2

Cisco recommends:

IOS XE Gibraltar 16.12.4
C3650-24PDM
C3650-48FQM
C3650-8X24PD
C3650-8X24UQ
C3650-12X48FD
C3650-12X48UQ
C3650-12X48UR
C3650-12X48UZ		 C3850-12X48U
C3850-24XU
C3850-12XS
C3850-16XS
C3850-24XS
C3850-32XS
C3850-48XS

Note: The Catalyst 9300 series and Catalyst 9500 series are pending Avnu certification. 

Catalyst 3650 and 3850 series switches have been certified by the Avnu Alliance, and are recommended for use with AVB. Avnu certification has not yet been obtained for the Catalyst 9300 and Catalyst 9500 series.

The following Cisco license levels are required for AVB support.

  • ipbase or ipservices license level for Catalyst 3000 family.
  • Network Advantage for Catalyst 9000 family.
  • DNA Subscription license not required for AVB support.

Cisco recommends the following Cisco IOS® XE Software release versions are required for AVB support.

  • IOS XE Gibraltar-16.12.4 for Catalyst 3000 family.

Limitations

Cisco Catalyst IOS applies following limitations apply when AVB is enabled:

  • AVB is not supported on StackWise connected switches. Fiber and copper uplinks are supported.
  • AVB is not supported on ports that are combined using link aggregation (EtherChannel). 
  • Up to 200 streams are supported per switch.

Enabling AVB

Prerequisites:

  • Cisco IOS XE Software with AVB support.
  • Switches have appropriate license levels.
  • User has access to CLI with configure permissions.
  • Switches are not in stacking mode
  • Interfaces are not configured for Etherchannel
  • Default VLAN 1 must be enabled on AVB ports

Step 1 - Enable AVB feature

Enter the following commands to enable AVB and MVRP (automatic VLAN) on the switch. 

Command Note
Switch> enable Enable EXEC mode.
Switch# configure terminal Enter global configuration mode.
Switch(config)# avb Enable AVB.
Switch(config)# avb strict Enable strict protocol compliance operation.
Switch(config)# mvrp global Enter MVPR global configuration.
Switch(config)# vtp mode off VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) can be configured for off or transparent mode operation.
Switch(config)# mvrp vlan create Enable MVRP to create VLANs
Switch(config)# end End global configuration mode and return to EXEC mode.
Switch# write memory Save the switch configuration.

Automatic VLAN creation may not be preferred some environments. In these cases, VLAN 2 can be configured manually and MVRP not utilized. For further details, see the Cisco IOS XE command reference guide for configuring Audio Video Bridging.

 

Step 2 - Configure interfaces with AVB connections to VLAN trunk mode.

Any ports with AVB devices attached must be configured for VLAN trunking mode. The port must also not be administratively shutdown. The following commands show enabling trunk mode for interface GigabitEthernet1/0/1.

Command Note
Switch> enable Enable EXEC mode.
Switch# configure terminal Enter global configuration mode.
Switch(config)# interface GigabitEthernet1/0/1 Enter interface configuration mode.
Switch(config-if)# switchport mode trunk Configure VLAN mode to trunk.
 Switch(config-if)#spanning-tree portfast trunk Interface moves directly to spanning-tree forwarding state
Switch(config-if)# no shutdown Ensure the port is not administratively shut down. 
Switch(config-if)# end End configuration mode and return to EXEC mode.
Switch# write memory Save switch configuration to memory. 

Configuring port by port is time consuming. The following is an example for configuring all ports 1-36 using the interface range command:

Switch>enable
Switch#configure terminal
Switch(config)#interface range GigabitEthernet1/0/1 - 36
Switch(config-if-range)#switchport mode trunk
Switch(config-if-range)#spanning-tree portfast trunk
Switch(config-if-range)#no shutdown
Switch(config-if-range)#end
Switch#write memory
Switch#exit

Step 3 - Optional Configuration of interfaces connecting to devices requiring class 4 (POE+ and PPoE).

Biamp class 4 devices will require additional 2-event classification commands to negotiate with Cisco Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE).

Cisco indicates 2-event classification allows class 4 Powered devices (PDs) to detect a PSE capability of providing 30W from hardware then register itself moving upward to PoE+ level without waiting for any CDP/LLDP packet exchange.

After 2-event is enabled on a port, you must manually shut/un-shut the port or re-connect the PD again to re-start the IEEE detection process.

Note that power budget allocation for a class-4 device will be 30W when 2-event classification is enabled on the port otherwise it will be 15.4W.

The following is an example for configuring all ports 1-36 using the interface range command, 2-event POE configuration with additional easy to identify interface description of BIAMP on the ports:

Switch>enable
Switch#configure terminal
Switch(config)#interface range GigabitEthernet1/0/1 - 36
Switch(config)#description BIAMP
Switch(config-if-range)#power inline port 2-event
Switch(config-if-range)#shutdown
Switch(config-if-range)#no shutdown
Switch(config-if-range)#end
Switch#write memory
Switch#exit

The switch does not require a reboot. Connected AVB enabled end points will begin transmitting protocol messages within moments of configuring the switch. Many other specific configuration options are available for the AVB protocols. Please see the IOS XE command reference guides for further details. 

 

AVB status and monitoring commands

The following commands are used to view the status of AVB on the switch and for assisting with diagnosing issues. 

Command Note
show avb domain Shows a high level overview of AVB operation on the switch. Displays stream reservation domain active ports, gPTP neighbor delay and VLAN membership.
show avb stream  Displays a high level overview of all AVB streams advertised on the network. 
show msrp streams brief Provides a brief view of AVB streams on the network.
show msrp streams detail Provides a detailed output of AVB streams and reservations on the network. 
show msrp port bandwidth  Shows current stream reservation consumption on the switch ports. 
show mvrp summary Shows a summary of VLANs created automatically.
show mvrp interface Displays interface specific MVRP details.
show ptp brief  Shows a brief overview of gPTP operation. 
show ptp clock  Shows the current clock details.
show ptp parent  Shows details of the parent clock. 
show platform software fed switch active ptp if-id {interface-id} Detailed output of the gPTP operation of a port. Provides neighbor delay threshold and current measured neighbor delay. 
show version  Shows details of the switch's software version. See Enabling AVB on Cisco Catalyst Switches
show license right-to-use  Shows details of the switch's enabled licenses. See Enabling AVB on Cisco Catalyst Switches
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  1. Article type
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  2. Tags
    1. avb
    2. cisco
    3. configuration
    4. switch